Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Cinco de Mayo, or as I like to call it "Mexican St. Patrick’s
Day," is almost here, and as everyone knows, the cornerstone of any great CDM
celebration is the salsa cruda. It has to be homemade, and it has to be
awesome. Actually, if you serve enough margaritas you could get away
with store-bought, but for the sake of this post, let’s just go with it.

Salsa cruda simply means a raw sauce, and that’s really the
only rule. This is also commonly called “pico de gallo,” which means “rooster's
beak,” apparently because it was originally eaten by “pecking” or pinching
small portions from the bowl with your thumb and forefinger. I’m going to ask
that you please use a chip.

I’d say my formula is fairly standard, except for the
cherry/grape tomatoes and the mint. Unless you’re blessed with a bounty of
real, sweet, vine-ripened tomatoes, your best bet for a world class salsa is
cherry tomatoes. While not a perfect substitute, they'll have the most
similar flavor to the aforementioned summer treat. The mint brings a subtle,
sweet twist and even more refreshing finish.

One word of warning: make twice as much as you think you are
going to need…this stuff is seriously addictive. By the way, as I just informed
my faithful followers on YouTube, I pronounce, “salsa,” “sal-za,” simply
because I find it more festive. Enjoy!

I like the use of mint in this recipe. What does putting salsa in the frig do? I thought we have been told not to put tomatoes in the refrigerator. Your recipes are so good, so if you say so I will follow your instruction. Just curious.

Looks like a great salsa recipe. Never would have thought of the mint, but it makes perfect sense. I'll have to give this one a try. My favorite salsa to make in the past was a recipe that was in Consumer Reports (of all places). Someone has posted it on BigOven http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/194761

Slightly off topic, ( great recipe by the way) but have you ever considered changing the background music on your vids? I only mention this because it's almost identical to a pop-up ad that comes on for a casino every time I legally use a certain torrent site to look for muck, or movies, or tv shows and whatever. I reckon kick out the jams by the MC5 would fit in quite nicely, or maybe some I gotta right by Iggy and the Stooges. Just a thought.

My idea of a perfect margarita: 2 parts good tequila, 1 part each fresh squeezed lime juice and Cointreau. Recipes say a teaspoon of sugar syrup but I prefer mine more tart. Shake with plenty of ice and serve either up or strained into a glass of fresh ice. A friend once asked if i could make him a virgin one since he was studying. What? A shot of lime juice? Just wait until you can stop working.

According to Alton Brown, the reason that you don't want to refrigerate tomatoes is that if tomatoes "drop below 50 degrees a flavor compound called (Z)-3-dexenal is just going to flip itself off like a chemical switch ... permanently." Whether that affects tomatoes which are already cut and part of a salsa, I'm not sure. I suppose we need to do some further research.

I like your non-seeding method of seeding chiles but I noticed you weren't wearing gloves. For me, forgetting to put on protection is a guaranteed way of sticking my finger in the corner of my eye sometime in the next fifteen minutes, with painful consequences.

As a huge salsa fan, I made this tonight. Here are my thoughts, in case anyone reads these comments before making:

1) A typical American will probably find this to be 'medium' hotness. I eat a lot of spicy Thai foods and whatnot, so I found this a bit mild. I'd probably triple (at least double) the amount of peppers next time).

2) Mint gives it a funny taste, in my opinion. I'd try it on a small scoop before putting it in the dish. I didn't really care for the taste, or at least would cut it in half next time.

3) I personally thought the onion and cilantro could be increased by 50% as I felt like I was mostly tasting tomatoes in each bite

All in all, very good. I added more cilantro/onion after I made it and I thought it tasted much more like salsa to me.